Le Man’s top-tier endurance racing class is going through a significant shake-up right now, since Porsche has retired its highly successful 919 Hybrid race car. Audi and Nissan also pulled out in recent years, leaving Toyota as the only manufacturer left to compete in the LMP1 class so the pressure is on for the FIA and ACO to change the rules of entry. Should the regulations change, Aston Martin has said that this could mean we’ll see the extraordinary Valkyrie hypercar get put through its paces out on the race track. We would tune into Le Mans to see that.
Speaking to Autocar, CEO Andy Palmer confirmed that the FIA has been discussing future regulations for endurance racing with him: "They were debating the future of LMP1 and asked me for my view,” he said. “My personal perspective is very clear: Aston Martin will never compete in a prototype category because it has no relevance to us. But if they allowed racing derivatives of road cars, that would be very interesting to us and, I suspect, the fans. Road-derived race cars fighting for the win is in keeping with the history of sports car and Le Mans racing, and the prospect of the likes of Valkyrie fighting against McLaren P1, LaFerrari and more would be interesting to more than just me, I suspect.”
That statement sounds like our dream motorsport. When asked if Aston Martin would consider competing in Le Mans with the Valkyrie if the regulations were changed, Palmer simply replied “watch this space.” There has already been talk of bringing back GT specifications to Le Mans, which would see the return of Le Mans racers based on road-legal supercars like the Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes CLK LM and Nissan R390 GT1 that used to compete in the endurance racing series. Currently in development in collaboration with Red Bull Racing, Aston Martin recently confirmed that a track-only version of the Valkyrie, known as the Valkyrie AMR track car, is in development and will launch in 2020.
As if it wasn’t already extreme enough with less weight than the standard car and levels of power that can allegedly rival Formula One cars, a thoroughbred sports car racing version would have to take it to the next level. Only 25 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMRs are being made which have all sold out, each costing over $4 million.
